Mai vs FanFiction
by AmyNChan
Summary: The problems Mai will encounter with FanFiction. Will try to have solutions as well. XD Problem 5: Push Off!
1. Review Me!

**_14AmyChan: just something to blow off steam right now. XD_**

**_Mai: AmyChan does not own Ghost Hunt!_**

_No, he did not show emotion. No, he was not like any other man. No, she did not care. Would you care to know why? Fine, I'll tell you._

_He was hers, hers and hers alone. And that was all that mattered._

Mai finished writing her standalone oneshot and sat back, a satisfied grin on her face. Her tale of romance, adventure, and peril had taken her three days to spin, and two more to edit correctly. She had fretted and stressed until every word was just perfect.

And now it was ready.

Ready for what? Why, the harsh internet, where people would read it and give it either critique or praise, of course! It was now up to the readers to decide how well her story fared.

After about half of an hour deciding on a decent title, writing an acceptable summary, and fitting her story into the correct categories, Mai happily clicked the "submit" button, eager to see what the people of the internet would have to say.

* * *

><p>Mai awoke to her alarm blaring in her ear. Blearily, she checked the clock to see that it was TEN IN THE MORNING! She was late for work!<p>

For the sixth time this week, but who's counting?

Hurriedly, she jumped in and out of the shower, got dressed for the day, placed a piece of uncooked bread in her mouth, and practically sucker-punched the door in a desperate attempt to flee down the street to the office that was sure to hold her doom.

Mai ran as fast as she could, hoping—no—_pleading_ with God that Naru would not be in a bad mood today. She almost jumped up the stairs in an effort to not be quite as late as she possibly could, and attempted to tip-toe down the hallway to her desk.

"Mai, you're late," a cold voice caused the exhausted girl to jump nearly a foot in the air. She whirled about to see a certain boss of hers glaring at her as only he could glare. She gulped.

"H-hi, Naru," Mai stuttered as she attempted to smile. In truth, she was exhausted, and right now, she wanted to get to a computer as quickly as possible. Naru sent a dissatisfied grunt her way before retreating to his bat cave. Mai nearly collapsed with relief into her seat when the inevitable call came.

"Mai, tea!"

Mai groaned, just knowing it was going to be one of those days.

* * *

><p>Mai returned safely to her house that night after a typical day at work. No, she had not been able to get to a computer, and she was anxious to see who had said what about the story she had uploaded the night previous.<p>

Quickly, she made a beeline for her computer. Within a few minutes, she had the machine turned on and had already logged into her email account. As she waited for it to load, excitement came over her.

Maybe someone loved it? Maybe someone hated it? Maybe she got one of those really mean critiques that she had seen floating around? I mean really, critiques can be helpful, but no need to be _rude_ about it…

Then, finally, her email loaded upon the page. Mai scanned through her messages, filing away notes from Naru and Lin about work, responding happily to Madoka, Bou-san, and Ayako, and responding cordially to Masako. At the end of the night, one thing had been certain.

No one had reviewed her story.

Mai could feel the burden weigh even more on her heart. Was her story so bad that everyone was ignoring it? Not one person would take ten seconds to say if they liked it or not?

_Seriously…? Though, it _has_ only been one day…_ Mai thought as she leaned away from her computer. She decided to give the people of the internet the benefit of the doubt. It's not like their life revolves around romantic tales of awesome proportions. _I'll probably get one review before the week is out._

* * *

><p>Mai hit her head on the desk in front of her, frustrated that she had not gotten <em>one<em> review in _three weeks_! The poor girl was beginning to loose hope. She glared at the monitor, as if doing so would bring one person to read the story she had painstakingly written and review on it.

No such thing happened.

"Ugh! Getting reviews from these people is like pulling teeth from a donkey," Mai grumbled, thoroughly not impressed with the lack of response. She had even checked the first page of the fanfiction genre. Since her one shot, several new stories had come out, and _every. Single. One of them. Had. At least. One. Frigging. REVIEW!_

Mai hit her head on her desk again, groaning at her misfortune. Would it really be so hard for one kind soul to somehow miraculously find her story and give her their opinion?! It did not even have to be nice anymore, just so long as someone told her what the heck they thought!

_Ding!_

A new email arrived in her inbox. Mai ignored it for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

_Ding! Ding!_

Three new e-mails in a span of less than three seconds? This was new. Curiously, Mai peered up from her desk, oblivious to the huge red mark that had appeared on her forehead from where she had hit it earlier.

Three new emails from her fanfiction website.

Mai's eyes widened and she eagerly opened the most recent of the three. She quickly scanned its contents and became elated.

_MTeaToGo,_

_The following member has added your story to her/his Story Alert subscription:_

_Pen Name: OliNollGhost_  
><em>Profile: XXXXXXXXX<br>_

_Story: Why She Came Back_  
><em>Link: XXXXXXXXX<br>_

_This is an automated email. Do not reply to this email. To disable these emails, please login to your account and disable Plus+ Alerts._

To commemorate the occasion of the first person to follow one of her stories, Mai created a new folder in her emails, specifically for good news from fanfiction. Excitedly, she moved this email to the new folder. With a beam on her face, she moved to the next email.

_MTeaToGo,_

_The following member has added you to her/his Author Alert subscription:_

_Pen Name: OliNollGhost  
>Profile: <em>_XXXXXXXXX_

_This is an automated email. Do not reply to this email. To disable these emails, please login to your account and disable Plus+ Alerts._

Mai's eyes widened. She had only ever written one story, so the fact that this person was now following her made her happy. She squealed happily, taking care not to be so loud. She was, after all, in the middle of work. She was currently on her break, and that was why she was checking her email in the first place, but she was still in the building and still had to remain courteous of the other people in the building.

Attempting to calm herself down from her new state of euphoria, Mai moved this email to the new folder as well. Her first follow—on both her story and on her as a writer—was an event worth commemorating. Now, she opened the third email.

_MTeaToGo,_

_A new review has been posted to your story._

_Story: Why She Came Back_

_From: OliNollGhost ( XXXXXXXXX )_  
><em>Reply URL: . XXXXXXXXX<em>

_The first thing I noticed about this story is its great abundance of grammatical errors. For example, "Him and me" could be exchanged with "Him and I", as well as several commas being traded out with semi-colons. When a new character is speaking, it is always prudent to start a new paragraph, and when one ceases to talk, place a comma in front of the end quotation, rather than a period. This is to ensure the reader knows that you are to continue the sentence._

_Now, as for the story in question, I believe—_

_This message has been cut due to length. In order to view the original message, please click the link above._

_Do not reply to this email._

Mai was unsure how to take this review. On the one hand, SOMEONE REVIEWED! On the other, there had been nothing positive yet in said review.

_Well, it's not spam_, Mai thought as she clicked the mentioned link. It opened a new tab on her computer in order to see what else this OliNollGhost had said about her story. It could not be denied that while it was not exactly _positive reinforcement_, it was not exactly bashing either. This person was just telling her what she could do better. She took a deep breath and continued to read the review. She read it all from the beginning.

_The first thing I noticed about this story is its great abundance of grammatical errors. For example, "Him and me" could be exchanged with "Him and I", as well as several commas being traded out with semi-colons. When a new character is speaking, it is always prudent to start a new paragraph, and when one ceases to talk, place a comma in front of the end quotation, rather than a period. This is to ensure the reader knows that you are to continue the sentence._

_Now, as for the story in question, I believe it is far-fetched. No sane human being would love one so emotionally stifled—I would know. Nevertheless, it was a good way to waste a few minutes taking a break from work._

_When is the next chapter coming up? I would like to see how this boy will react to the situation he has now found himself in.  
><em>

_-OliNollGhost_

Mai sat there for a moment. She was unsure to be happy that this person did not hate her story entirely or sad because he felt that emotionally stifled people were unloved. She chose both as she responded.

_Duly noted. I'll take care with those mistakes in the future._

_And for the storyline, it's not far-fetched at all. I happen to love someone who is emotionally stifled, and I'm sure you're loved as well. You just don't know it yet. ;)_

_And ASAP. I'll have to think about it for a while, but it'll come up._

_BTW, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO MEEEE!_

With that happy note, Mai clicked the 'send' button and began to brainstorm. She opened up a new document in word and got to work.

_**Hey, all! This chapter is dedicated to my ONLY reviewer, OliNollGhost! This is for you!**_

_To say he was surprised would be an understatement..._

* * *

><p>As his brunette continued to type happily, Naru shut his door quietly. He returned to his computer, just in time to hear a slight noise from his computer, indicating that he had received an email.<p>

**_Naru: You also forgot to do a disclaimer in your story, Mai._**

**_Mai: NARU REVIEWED! *hugs and doesn't let go*_**

**_14AmyChan: If you feel as I do, then be nice, take the time to review! XDDD_**

**_Naru: and now you will go back to writing for your other story?_**

**_14AmyChan: sure, why not? *^_^*_**


	2. Rules, Rules, Rules!

_**14AmyChan: Okay, so something like this happened to me a few days ago, and I've been trying to find a solution.**_

_**Mai: What is that?**_

_**14AmyChan: I'll let you all know what that is after you read this. It describes the problem very well, I think.**_

_**Naru: AmyChan does not own Ghost Hunt**_

Mai Taniyama slumped in front of her computer. She had _finally_ gotten a review. She had _finally_ gotten the courage to write its sequel. But what does she find when she gets on to upload? She finds _this._

What is _this_, you might ask?

This.

This was a new message in her inbox.

_This_ was evil.

Topic: "Why She Came Back"

_While I believe that "Why She Came Back" is an amusing tale with an equally entertaining plot, it has broken some of the rules of this site. For instance, I noted that you had some quotes from a book by Prof. Oliver Davis that were not cited, as well as some lyrics from the popular song, "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz. This plagiarism is clearly against the Terms of Service, 6-D, which states_

_ "In connection with User Submissions, you further agree that you will not submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner and the necessary consents from any individuals whose personally identifiable information is contained in such material to post the material and to grant all of the license rights granted herein."_

_ What this implies is that under no circumstances are you allowed to include copyrighted material into your fanfiction. What I recommend is that you exchange the Oliver Davis quotations with something of your own [or perhaps give them the citations they deserve] and remove the lyrics of the song. If not, I will be forced to report._

_ With all due respect, TypeTodayTypeTomorrow_

Mai huffed as she restrained herself from responding immediately. Yelling at the person on the other side would do nothing for her, and she could probably get suspended for hate mail. People like these tended to leave mass amounts of paper trails to get innocent, yet easily angered, people like her into big trouble.

She grabbed the pillow nearest to her and groaned loudly into it. As she was sitting on her bed with her laptop in front of her, she was allowed to do that. She let her frustration out on the poor pillow for a good ten minutes before turning back to the message.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she hit send before she could think quite right about what she was doing. She looked with pride at the message she had sent.

_Thank you. I understand your concern, but the story is staying exactly the way it is. The song is supposed to enhance the entire reading experience. If I don't have the lyrics there, those not listening to the song will be lost at that specific point, and those listening may arrive at the punch of the song either too early or too late. The song is crucial to this story and cannot be removed._

_ -MTeaToGo_

Too frustrated and somewhat indignant to post the next chapter of the story for now—and not to mention it also had a song inside it—Mai shut her computer down and readied for bed, all the while trying to force herself to calm down.

"It's not like I knew what the rules were before I wrote it," she grumbled at her reflection as she brushed her teeth. The words were garbled, but she could still hear it. "I mean, nobody reads those rules. Who's got the _time_ for that, anyway? I don't! I have a job to go to and bills to pay! This is supposed to be _fun_, not a _hassle_..."

With that attitude, Mai eventually went to sleep, not realizing that TypeTodayTypeTomorrow had already responded.

* * *

><p>The brunette girl fought valiantly to hold onto her unconscious state, courageously stabbing the life out of the alarm clock that dared intrude on her wondrous sleep.<p>

Alas, it was not her alarm clock she was battling with.

It was her phone.

Groggily—and against her better nature, mind you—the tired brunette girl answered her cell.

"Moshi moshi..." she greeted tiredly, a yawn escaping her lips and making itself proudly known to the person on the other side of the phone.

"Mai, have you forgotten we have a case today?" Naru's voice sounded on the other side, obviously condescending. With that hardly hidden warning to get her rear end in gear before he and Lin make their way to her apartment, Mai was flying around the apartment, readying her supplies for the next case and making her way out onto the street in under five minutes.

Her laptop was completely forgotten.

* * *

><p>"Home sweet home," Mai sighed as she flopped gracelessly on her bed. Despite the bandages on her forearms and two on her face, the girl was smiling as though exceedingly giddy about something. She rolled childishly on her bed, happy to be back.<p>

It was a matter of time before her back tapped her laptop, sitting innocently where she had left it five days ago before leaving for the case. Excited, she opened her laptop and got onto her fanfiction account, excited to finally post the next chapter of her story now that her head was cool and she was in a good mood.

The first sight that greeted her was a message from TypeTodayTypeTomorrow, informing her that she had been reported. This caused her mood to dampen a little bit, but the worst was yet to come.

Her story had been taken down.

Mai felt her face drain of color. Her story—the one she had worked so hard on, the one she had waited on a review for for so long, the one that she was finally becoming proud of—was gone. Gone.

Gone.

Gone.

Never to return.

Mai could not fall asleep. Rather, she watched her blank laptop screen late into the night.

* * *

><p>Naru, finally finished with the paperwork he was to fill out after the case he and his team had just gone on, scrolled through his account on fanfiction. He had made it only after he had figured out the predicament with Mai in his office hours, and had decided to take action. However, something was missing. The only story he had favorite on this site was gone.<p>

Mai's story was missing.

_Why would she delete it after moping about it for weeks?_ Naru pondered. Knowing he could not ask her as a boss, he decided to ask anonymously. He opened up a private message draft.

* * *

><p><em>Ding!<em>

An email popped up in Mai's account and she clicked on it. Happy to find a familiar—and somewhat kind—username had messaged her, she scanned it quickly.

_What happened to your story?_

_ -OliNollGhost_

Frowning at the unpleasant situation, Mai told the user what had happened with her story, not releasing the username of the person who had done it to her. As much as she disliked what was happening, she did not want to rain hate on the soul who had removed her story.

She could hate it enough, that person did not need _two _people hating on them.

_Did you not read the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines when you joined the site?_

_ -OliNollGhost_

Mai snorted.

_No, I don't have time. Did you?_

_ -MTeaToGo_

As she waited for a response, she wondered. All of the rules were in those documents, yes, but who on earth had the time to go through all of that legal jargon to pick out the rules that applied to the writers? Most of it was "we're not responsible for your mistakes" crap that she didn't have time to sort through.

_As I do not plan on writing anything, I found it a waste of my time to go through such things. You, however, /did/ write something, and /should/ have read the rules._

_ -OliNollGhost_

Mai frowned. Was this person on her side or on the other guy's side?

_Still..._

She halted in her typing. What else was there? She did not have the time to read the rules, yet now she was sitting here arguing about how no one had time to read the rules and sort through them. Before she could complete her train of thought, OliNollGhost sent another message.

_If your small mind cannot filter through the perfectly necessary legalities, there is a forum that has broken down all of the rules so it is easier for normal writers to understand /before/ they get called out on for breaking the rules._

_ Of course, only if you have the /time/ for it._

_ -OliNollGhost_

Mai huffed indignantly. Who was this guy? He sounded an awful lot like Naru. Mai entertained the notion for no more than a split second before laughing at herself. There was no _way_ Naru would get an account. Not on a site like this. He did not write recreationally.

_What have I got to loose, my story again? What's the Forum?_

_ -MTeaToGo_

She sent the message before rifling through her hard drive. If she remembered correctly, she had saved the story...

Ah! There it was! Now she did not have to try and re-write it. Though for all intents and purposes, she probably was going to have to.

For the next ten minutes, she went through her story, working on the quotations. That part was easy. Just say "according to Dr Oliver Davis, _" or "in the words of Dr Davis _" or even "a skilled expert in the paranormal once said _". She liked the last one best of all. She never wanted Naru to find her story and realize she had quoted from at least three of his books in a single one-chapter story.

That was what had prevented her from changing it in the first place. But now that FanFiction had proven it could—and _would_—take down her story if she would not comply with the rules, she had no choice.

After that was done, all she had to do was do something about the lyrics. But what could she do?

As she sat there and pondered, the telling _ding_ resounded from her laptop. Mai opened the message before copy and pasting the link within. It was for a forum on the site called **Writing With Wonder**. There were only a few topics, but one of them was clearly labeled "Rules of Fanfiction".

"What have I got to lose?" Mai grumbled to herself as she clicked the topic link.

She spent the next nine and a half minutes going through the abridged rules. It was not like they _only_ had the abridged rules, but the section they came from as well, for those with the time to actually sort through the legal junk themselves. It really was quite helpful to her.

She sent a quick thank-you to OliNollGhost before getting back to her own story. She _still_ had no idea how to work with the story so it would be as awesome as it was supposed to be without using the words of the song.

"How am I gonna do this...?" Mai wondered aloud. She switched tabs and went back to that forum, hoping there was something there.

'_I Need Help!'_ was a topic simply blaring in her face, but Mai did not want to go to that option yet. Instead, she clicked on another topic titled _'Helpful Hints!'_

Mai quickly scanned the one hint that was there, giving a tip on what to do. Hesitantly, she tried that out with her own fiction. While it was not as amazing as it could have been, it would have to do. Before uploading it, she also applied OliNollGhost's critiques she had received in the last copy. Maybe with less things to complain about, he might actually _like_ the story.

After she applied the song advice to the second chapter as well, Mai uploaded both chapters. They were to the same story, as one of the rules she had read prohibited authors from putting different chapters of the same story in different story files. She did not know why, but she did _not_ want to be called on it.

Feeling like she was successfully evading potential hate, Mai finally switched the light off and went to bed, feeling a lot easier than she had been feeling a few hours beforehand.

* * *

><p>Mai ran into the office with only a few moments to spare by her watch. She slammed the door shut and allowed herself to regain her breath in victory.<p>

"You're late," a voice said, as though robotically, from in front of her. The brunette girl raised her head with a scowl and a face rosy from the amount of exertion she had undergone just to get there _on time_.

"I am not!" she panted.

"Tell me what the time is," Naru answered easily. Mai looked at her watch for confirmation.

"Eight o' five!" she replied indignantly. She thought her shift started at eight ten. That was always what Naru implied when she arrived at eight fifteen and told her she was five minutes late.

"What does your contract say?" the boss asked, obviously guiding the conversation. Mai did not appreciate being treated like a five year old.

"Eight ten!" she guessed, forcing her voice to be confident. Naru handed her a copy of her contract and she looked at him with an obvious 'are you serious' expression. Naru's facial expression remained mute as she eventually caved and took the contract from his hands.

Twenty minutes later, Mai cried out indignantly. "No way! I thought it was eight ten!"

"The time has always been eight, and it has always been in your contract," Naru corrected, watching as Mai dissolved into angry murmurings. He smirked. It was always fun to rile her up. He decided to add one more line, just to press some salt into the wound.

"You should always make time to read through the rules," the boss stated professionally. "Abridged or no."

Mai spluttered as the boss left her on the couch with her contract in hand. She had only gotten halfway through the entire thing when her hours had finally been revealed. She slumped over in defeat.

Rules were such jerks.

"Mai, tea!"

But Naru was always a bigger one.

_**14AmyChan: Okay, so I was approached by a group that call themselves "Eliminator" and they requested that I take down my songfic. It made me a bit mad, but then I kept on thinking about groups like that and what they do.**_

_**Mai: You mean how they tell readers what rules they broke?**_

_**14AmyChan: Yeah. that's all they do. "You broke this rule, so fix it" or "You're not complying with this rule, so take this story down". Stuff like that. And while I agree with it to an extent—**_

_**Mai: WHAT?!**_

_**14AmyChan: I said 'to an extent', hear me out, please.**_

_**Naru: She's always interrupting.**_

_**14AmyChan: *places hand over each of their mouths* I think they're doing it wrong!**_

_**...**_

_**14AmyChan: Nothing is going to change if we just tell people what they're doing wrong. But people also don't want to read the rules cause it has a huge amount of tech crud in it and NO ONE really wants to go through **__**that**__** heap of mess.**_

_**Mai: *pulls my hand off* So what's your solution?**_

_**14AmyChan: a prevention group. A group that tries to make the rules known—in a very simple fashion—**__**BEFORE**__** people break them. And this group wouldn't just be about telling the rules either.**_

_**Naru: What else would there be? *he pulled my hand down a long time ago***_

_**14AmyChan: Writers directly interacting with each other to help each other and their skills. There's a place for betas to advertise, a place for writers to ask for help, and a place to leave random helpful hints in case you want to help random people randomly. So it's not just preventing the people who bark out the rules once it's too late**_

_**Mai: Who else is it preventing?**_

_**14AmyChan: Flamers and haters. When you work in a group to write, there are less errors with the finished product. Less errors mean less haters. Less errors also bring in a bigger group of potential readers.**_

_**Naru: So what's the name of this group of yours?**_

_**14AmyChan: It's a forum called—**_

_**WRITING WITH WONDER**_

_**14AmyChan: for more questions on it and its purpose, please message me!**_

_**Mai: We hope you enjoyed the story and will join the forum and spread the word about it!**_

_**Naru: *glares, thinking of the many different ways this could go wrong***_


	3. Guest? Report This!

_**14AmyChan: Mai's back with another problem to deal with!**_

_**Mai: Anonymous reporters...**_

_**14AmyChan: Seriously, *holds off comments until the end***_

_**Mai: Amy-chan doesn't own Ghost Hunt!**_

Mai posted her sequel with a flair, quite happy with herself. After brushing up on those stupid rules and avoiding breaking them for the sake of her sanity, she opted to add a disclaimer. That was, after all, one of those stupid rules. I mean, come on, who actually believes people post original material on a _fanfiction site_?

Still, evidently some people did, so a disclaimer was necessary. After a few moment of thinking on how to pull it off, she was suddenly hit with a burst of genius! Her fingers began to fly across the keyboard, allowing herself to interact with the characters. One fictional fight with a Phantomhive and a chirpy disclaimer from a certain blonde female lead later she had what she needed to post her story.

She double checked grammar and those useless things before posting her new story to the site. She had seen this type of disclaimer done before, so she was obviously not going to get into trouble over it.

She would be fine. Of this, she reassured herself before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Mai awoke the next morning, late as per usual. She simply had no time to check on her account—not even to see if OliNollGhost had read or reviewed or to see if TypeTodayTypeTomorrow had tried to poke holes at her story again—as she rushed out of the door to her apartment.<p>

The day would fly by with paperwork; a visiting monk, priestess, and priest; several calls of tea; a client whose case had been turned down due to the woman thinking her cat had been possessed by the neighbor's dog (disproved when it was revealed that the dog was actually _still living_); more calls for tea; a trip to the shop down the street; more paperwork; another case that was put down because the man was delusional (he had claimed his teapot was trying to marry him); a personal request from Masako that was considered; and more paperwork and tea calls.

It had been a busy day for Mai. So, understandably, when she had returned home she had only eaten dinner, prepared for bed, and then slept.

* * *

><p>The girl was jarred from sleep by a dream. It was not one of <em>those<em> dreams, simply a weird and somewhat fanciful dream about Naru staying up half the night on a computer, attempting to comfort someone on the other side of his internet connection.

_Yeah right_, she thought as her sleep-hazed brain took in the time. 4:56 am. _Naru wouldn't... but that reminds me!_

Without much else running through her mind, Mai snatched her laptop up and kicked it into high gear. After a few moments, she had everything up and running. The sequel had gotten more reviews far more quickly, and OliNollGhost had been the first to leave his curt reply. Happily, Mai set about to responding to each review, thanking each and every person for making her day just a little bit brighter. Even TypeTodayTypeTomorrow had reviewed positively, and this made the girl fist pump in victory.

As soon as she was through sorting through her reviews—a task that only took her a minute or so—she set about to getting ready for the day. It was now 5:15 and she had a lot of time to spare. As she was in a good mood, she decided to make herself a healthy breakfast and then possibly go for a walk in the crisp morning air.

She nodded at her plan and began to prepare her solitary meal, humming in happiness along the way.

* * *

><p>A week passed and Mai's good mood only increased. Her sequel—which she had been working on in her spare time or whenever her muse hit her—was being accepted nicely, and people seemed to be really enjoying the new form of disclaimers that she had taken up. So far, she had made three fangirls squeal and one <em>certain reviewer<em> actually contemplate the fact that men who are emotionally stifled can be truly loved.

And possibly learn to love in return.

She had an extensive conversation with him about it almost every time he reviewed. She hoped the girl he was surely falling in love with would appreciate her efforts to get him to smile at her. In fact, she would like to meet this girl and ask her how on earth she managed to get someone who felt he was in an eternal emotionless pit of darkness to love.

It was a secret she would love to learn.

* * *

><p>':Reported.'<p>

Mai blinked, thinking the guest review would go away.

':Reported.'

Nope, it was still there. Mai searched through her fic. She was following the rules of the stupid site, what more did they want?

At first, she considered that TypeTodayTypeTomorrow was back to his old tricks, but swiftly shook her head of that thought. _His_ reporting style was to inform the author first of their offenses in detail—no matter how aggravating she found it—and _then_ to report it. He would not just pop up out of the blue and shout this in her face.

Next, she considered her internet activity. The only thing she could think that she had done was to browse through forums and share her own two cents worth where she thought they counted. This had, obviously, gotten her blocked from a few forums because—well, let's face it—Mai was always Mai. Short tempered, near sighted in some aspects, and a strong sense of justice for the underdog.

In this case, it was generally the rule-breakers who were being hassled by people who had appointed themselves with a fake sheriff's badge and thought doing so made it okay for them to hassle others. If given the choice to pick which 'sheriff' she would choose to bug her, she would probably go with TypeTodayTypeTomorrow. At least _he_ was not a rude sour-puss. At least, not _too_ bad. He was just informative and a bit blunt.

And he got her story kicked off once, but after she started dealing with those stupid rules, he actually turned out to be quite nice. Turned out that he was Chinese!

Mai was thankful at that moment that there was an option to remove guest reviews, because she did just that. To every single one.

After she was done with that, she sat back on the backboard of her bed and let out a large huff. Some people were really jerks, and too cowardly to own up to the fact that they _may_ have made the author angry and too scared of a retaliation. So all that left was one smug author, one angry author, and a whole lotta tension for Mai to deal with.

"Ugh!" Mai screamed out, frustrated. She needed to cool her head. She still had her clothes from her walk earlier that morning on, so all she did was grab a coat and walk out of the door, making sure to lock it behind her.

She walked only a few blocks away to a nearby park, where she promptly sat in a swing. Still fueled by her frustration, she kicked roughly until she was swinging in the air, her worries long forgotten in the breeze. She allowed a bubble of laughter to escape her as she flew all the way up, and then weightlessly fell with the swing to the ground. The process repeated again and again until the frustration was almost entirely gone.

"If only you could come to work with as much enthusiasm," a voice from behind her commented. Mai felt herself stiffen as she leaned her head back and saw her boss standing a few feet behind her. Blushing a fierce red and not wanting to take the time to stop the swing manually, the girl simply jumped from the swing when it reached its full height. If she had eyes in the back of her head, she might have noticed the way that Naru jutted forward to ascertain her safety even before she had landed. When she stood tall, her back still facing the man, he released a sigh of relief.

This woman was going to kill him with a heart attack!

"I didn't see you there," she mumbled, not happy with being caught off guard. She would not have minded so much if it were Bou-san or Ayako, but this was Naru. _Naru!_

"Obviously," he returned, smirk in place by the time Mai had turned around. In his hand was the already still swing, which he had moved out of the way to try and get to the brunette if she had gotten herself hurt.

The delightfully crisp morning air hung for only about a moment. Mai was still embarrassed and Naru was watching her with a cool eye. He had seen the guest messages before she had removed them and had no problem admitting his curiosity as to how Mai was handling them. It was a well-known fact that she could fly off the handle at any and every little thing, so his curiosity led him to the park where he sometimes came at this hour for thought. He had not, however, expected to see Mai there.

The feeling was mutual.

"Can I have my seat back?" she asked and he released the swing. Mai thanked him as she moved to sit in it. She gestured the swing next to her own, silently offering it to him as a seat. She did not actually think he would take him up on her offer until he sat himself on the swing beside her.

Swiftly becoming bored, but not wanting to leave, Mai began to move herself back and forth with her toes, easily becoming pleased with the movement. She allowed a smile to come over her face quite easily.

Naru watched for a moment, seeing that she was her normal Mai-like self. He would not have to ask about anything, he could see it all clear on her face. She _had_ been frustrated earlier, and the cause was something he could venture a fairly decent guess at. But now, she was fine. She had probably just been blowing off some steam on the swing when he had found her five minutes ago. She was fine now.

Eventually, Mai got back to her full height on the swing again, smiling and laughing the entire time. She did not mind that Naru was here, and refused to let his mere presence embarrass her anymore. She would be herself, she would keep doing whatever it was she was doing, and she would be happy with that.

Whether it be chasing after ghosts with Naru or writing her stories, she refused to let anyone get her down any longer. Besides, there was always that lovely delete button.

_**14AmyChan: Okay, so the thing that she was reported for this time was—**_

_**Mai: The new way I did the disclaimers**_

_**14AmyChan: Seriously, half of the entire site does them this way. It's a fun way to interact with the characters and get across the "I don't own this" and "please read and review" kinda thing.**_

_**Mai: Sometimes the best thing to do is to get off the computer and get some air for a little while. If nothing happens, then you just get rid of those guest reviews and keep on going.**_

_**14AmyChan: Yeah. Honestly, though, if you can find a swing, hop on that for a while and let the wind take your FF problems away! People who won't even tell you their name when they report you aren't worth stressing too much over. *^_^***_

_**Mai: While Amy and I decompress from all of that, please review! Share your own experiences, whatever~!**_

_**14AmyChan: And see you guys in the next chapter of SPRITN!**_


	4. You're Not Helping!

_**AmyNChan: Okay, it's been a while since I updated on this one, but something came to mind and I wanted to share it here.**_

_**Mai: Does it have to do with forums or something?**_

_**AmyNChan: Nope! Not this time~! I don't own Ghost Hunt and I hope you enjoy this chapter~! *^_^***_

Mai Taniyama sat in front of her computer, reading over yet another fanfiction. It had been a slow day at the office and Naru had let her have an extra-long lunch break. Lucky her! She was currently wrapped in the middle of the most _awesome_ tale with the _best_ plotline and she absolutely _felt_ for these characters and she _so_ wanted this villain to get his comeuppance and—

Mai sat on the edge of her seat as she clicked the next chapter, eager to get started with the next leg of this harrowing adventure. What came next caused her heart to drop into her stomach.

_Alert,_ the screen read. _Due to harassment I have gotten concerning this story, I have decided to take it down. I apologize to anyone who might have liked this story, but I can't deal with it anymore. This story will be gone by next week._

Mai sat in her seat, aghast at what she had just read. She read it twice. Thrice. Four times over. One question came to her mind. Why on earth was this person getting harassment over their writing? The grammar was perfect, the story itself was top notch, it was easy to read. If this person switched the character names out for something a little more original, Mai would have paid good money to see how it ended. Replacing the names back to the fanfiction names in her mind all the while, of course.

Mai scrolled down to the review box and left in her two cents worth before closing her laptop and returning to work.

_What the heck? There's absolutely nothing wrong with this story, it's great and keeps us interested and just all around amazing! Who would be harassing you because of it? Lemme know so I can tell 'em to stop!_

* * *

><p>By the time Mai entered her apartment that night, she was <em>exhausted<em>. Turned out that while she was gone, Naru had had to take at least three different calls from three crazy people. Two of which were legally admitted to an insane asylum. The third of which was yet another fangirl trying to get a date with the 'hot ghost buster' who had cleared her home of the departed. Naru had given the girl the cold shoulder and hung up, but when the girl called back and heard Mai's—another _girl's_—voice, she had been borderline hysterical. It had taken at least half an hour of talking to convince the girl that she had gotten the wrong number.

After that, the fangirl's number had been blocked from their system.

Even after that, Mai had returned to a mountain's worth high of paperwork. Where all the paperwork came from, she had no clue. It was her job to sort it and somehow read Naru's English script. English! Still, she had managed to get it all done before closing up.

The working girl sighed tiredly as she put some water on the stove. As she waited for it to boil, she also turned on her laptop and plugged it in. She wondered if perhaps she should listen to Pandora while checking her emails. Nodding to herself, she happily flicked the musical application on as she opened her email account.

Junk, junk, work, work, work, Ayako, work, junk, spam, bill, bill, Bou-san, bill, Masako (? what could she want?), junk, work, bill, fanfiction, fanfiction, bill, work, junk, Yasu.

_Not too much_, Mai mused as she heard her water bubble excitedly. The girl easily plopped in a small amount of rice, stirred, covered the pot, and set the timer for twenty minutes before sitting in front of her laptop again, intent to get to the fun stuff before the serious stuff.

Ayako wanted to know if she could borrow Mai over the weekend (she would have to talk to Naru about it), Bou-san sent her a funny gif (she sent him a thank you for making her laugh), Masako told her she would be coming into town tonight (she inquired as to why she needed to know and not Naru), her story got another review, and she got a response from an author.

_Oh, the author I messaged earlier today_, Mai thought, hastily clicking the link to see what she could do to help. It was awful that someone felt so harassed that—

_Thanks, but please leave it alone. This decision was not made lightly and I apologize if it causes you inconvenience_, the message read, blaring in Mai's shocked face. Didn't the girl want help? Someone to help her from unknown harassers?

_But why?_ Mai typed. _Your story is amazing, there shouldn't be anyone harassing you for it!_

Mai sent her message without a second thought. She felt indignant. Why on earth would this amazing author have to take down their story? Because of a bunch of second-rate cyberbullies? Please! Mai even read the rules! There wasn't any songs, explicit scenes, copyrighted material, or anything out of the content rating range in the story. It followed all of the fanfiction rules and was an amazing story overall. Who would have the gall to—

_Thanks, but drop it, okay?_

Mai frowned, setting to typing again.

_But why? I want to help! You're a great author and you haven't done anything wrong._

Mai was almost shocked by how quickly the reply came. Perhaps this person was on at the same time as her? Mai opened her email.

_Seriously, stop. You don't know all of the circumstances and all you're doing is hurting._

Mai's mouth dropped open. How dare this nameless person? Accusing her of not knowing and telling her she was nothing but a nuisance? She was just trying to help a fellow writer!

_If I don't get it, then tell me so I can understand! I want to help you out and all you're doing is being an insensitive jerk who won't accept it!_

Mai sent the message and waited a solid three minutes before getting the responding emails. Emails. Plural. The first contained a responding message. Mai opened that one first.

_You know what? Fine! People don't like what I've been doing with this story, the direction it's taken. They don't like how I've got the characters grouped together and keep telling me to change it. I've been sent several messages each day, asking me to telling me to demanding me to change my story. Other times I get messages that say the message my story sends makes them sick to the core. My story is hated and so are my ideals and I'm sick of putting up with it. I'm done with people who won't read my story or give it a chance, and I'm ESPECIALLY done with people who think they can help when they have no clue what a person like me goes through in society!_

_And I'm done trying to accept help from strangers who only ever leave you in the end! You're not helping me, you're hurting me by being there! Just do me a favor and drop the issue and leave me alone! The story is coming down and there's nothing you can do to help! Sorry little happy-go-lucky!_

_Goodbye!_

Mai did not know what to say for a while. This person was so angry. So _explosive_. She hadn't even done anything. Ok, so she called him a jerk, but still… She scrolled down to reply.

_Sorry about whatever's bugging you, but I honestly just want to help. If it matters, I really like your story. It's new and different and really cool to read. I may not support the pairings, but I really do like it… Please don't take it down._

Mai hit the send button, only to have a message pop up in her face. She could not believe her eyes. She had been _blocked_. Blocked! Blocked by a person she had only been trying to help!

Another email came into her inbox, from Masako. It was asking her to pick her up from the airport. Mai groaned. It was ten thirty at night and she was tired and she was already in her pajamas and she had rice on the stove…

Still, Masako—even with as arrogant and annoying as she was—almost never asked much of Mai. The only times she did were to either make tea or when it was something important. Well, there was no Naru for Masako to make tea for, so she guessed it had to be important. Mai sighed as she slipped into some comfortable sweats and a jacket and put on some shoes. She turned off the stove and headed out the door, on her way to pick up her friend from the airport.

* * *

><p>Mai walked easily into the airport. While the girl did not have a car or a driver's license, the facility was fairly easy to get to via cab. She looked around for her friend before remembering that her email had stated that Mai should wait outside. So, Mai turned around and headed outside, looking around for—<p>

"I had thought perhaps your eyesight would improve in the night, as animalistic instincts would suggest," a familiar voice chimed from the girl's left. Mai grit her teeth. Only one person would use Naru's analogy so casually.

"What's the big deal, Masako?" Mai asked, walking to her friend. Masako was waiting by the door of the airport, trying to be hidden from the world in shadow. Mai, however, paid no mind. "It's late and you could have had someone with a _car_ pick you up."

"I could have driven myself if I wished," Masako returned haughtily. Before Mai could retaliate, the petite girl continued. "But for now, I wish to go to your house."

Mai was about to retort when she saw it. Masako's eyes were shifting, looking all around. And then Mai noticed exactly _how_ the girl was standing. In shadow. Hidden from any sort of spotlight. Hiding.

Mai sighed. Knowing this girl came with its ups and downs. "Come on, then. I have a half-cooked batch of rice on the stove at home."

"Oh, you left the stove on?" Masako asked as she moved away from the building, skirting the light. Mai joined her in hiding. "How clumsy."

"Watch it," Mai growled as the two girls entered the cab, heading back to the Taniyama apartment.

* * *

><p>The walk up to Mai's apartment was slightly tense. Masako was stiff as a board and Mai could think of nothing to get the girl to relax except for getting into the apartment. The sooner the girl was out of open sight, the better.<p>

And it turned out, Mai was right. The instant she closed the door and shut the blinds, Masako relaxed slightly. Mai sighed as she went to turn on the stove again.

"Ghost or paparazzi?" she asked. It was almost a given that Masako's behavior could be attributed to either one of those things. Persistent ghosts would have been kept away by the charms Mai had around the edges of her apartment. Impatient paparazzi might be deterred by the thought of Masako Hara entering an apartment and not leaving until morning.

Mai did not expect the shudder that came next. Masako had already seated herself at Mai's table and looked at her hands. Mai looked at them, too. They were trembling.

"Masako?" she asked, her attention completely diverted from the boiling stove. She sat across from her friend to see two tears slip down her porcelain face. Mai's eyes widened and she hid her gasp of shock. Doing something like that would cause her friend to shut down and turn away, which was not good for her at all.

"Stalker. Got too close," Masako stated. Her voice cracked ever-so-slightly, but Mai paid no heed to it. She was more concerned with her friend.

"Did he hurt you? Did someone catch him? Masako, are you okay?" Mai asked, scooting her chair around. The girl shook her head at all three inquiries. She clenched her shaking hands into fists, as if doing so would give her more strength.

"He kept trying to get close throughout the shoot, even pretended to be possessed to get close enough…" Masako admitted. "He wasn't possessed, but the director thought I was running hot and cold. I was forced to shoot with him… Something about fulfilling a fan's dream… It was so stupid…"

Mai was listening with rapt attention at this point. Masako had done shoots with fans before. Something had happened.

She was right.

"…he tried to invite me to lunch and I tried to say no… but my agent said yes for me… he kept trying to start something with me… I ended up leaving before the drinks came… Mai, he tried to get me to _drink_," Masako seethed. Mai understood her friend then. She was not just afraid of what this man had almost done to her. She was _angry_. She was _furious_.

"I could barely walk out of there without making a scene… My agent was furious with me for walking out… My director asked if he was still possessed and _shrugged me off_ when I told him he never was. Mai, how many times does this have to happen before I get some _real_ security?" Masako seethed. She was starting to lash out.

"Masako, make a complaint, a restraining order, tell people to stay away when you're shooting, or tell the director you'll walk," Mai said, grasping at straws to find a solution for her friend. She nodded to herself at that last idea. "Naru should pay you well enough for the times you come out and help us. You might end up living like me, but at least that idiot would learn to respect your wishes. If he doesn't have a new act on for a month or so, maybe—"

"Mai, the rice is burning," Masako interrupted her. Mai's eyes widened as she turned to the stove.

"CRAP!" she cried out, hurrying to the stove to salvage what she could of her dinner. Masako sighed.

"As if I could take advice from someone as clumsy as yourself," she responded haughtily. Mai turned around and childishly stuck her tongue out. That Masako always said things like that. Mai smiled at the implication. Masako was feeling better. Masako smiled as well.

"Well, too bad I was making this rice for both of us. Looks like we'll have to share burnt rice," Mai said, a teasing lilt to her completely true observation. Masako sighed dramatically.

"I was worried about a stalking fool and my coworker is going to poison me with burnt rice," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She was at Mai's place. She could go without hiding her face here. She easily doged Mai's flying house slipper as it sailed harmlessly past her head.

"What was that, Masako?" Mai jeered. Masako responded as usual, which in turn elicited another angry outburst from the girl. The kimono-clad girl smiled in familiarity. She really needed to have a friend around while she was hurting.

After all, there were some things only a friend could fix.

_**AmyNChan: Okay, the point of this one was that there are some things only friends can deal with. The girl who wrote the story, Mai didn't know her and wanted to help. While that's admirable, it only ended up hurting Mai in the end. It wasn't anyone's fault, the other author was just hurting really bad and Mai wasn't listening.**_

_**Mai: hey!**_

_**AmyNChan: It's true. But when Masako came over, she needed someone who knew her, someone she could trust. That was Mai for her.**_

_**Mai: Your point in this is what?**_

_**AmyNChan: That if another fanfiction author is hurting and you want to help, offer your help, but if they ask you to stand down then stand down. Don't make things worse for them by pushing. You'll only get hurt in the end.**_

_**Mai: Oh.**_

_**AmyNChan: Yup, so please read and review~! *^_^***_


	5. Push Off!

_**AmyNChan: Okay, I just wanna say something up front. This is a very EXTREME CASE. The resolution can be viewed as such, but this does sometimes happen.**_

_**Mai: When people like this come to you, try reasoning it out with them first. If they make or hide behind excuses, do what I did.**_

_**AmyNChan: And we're about to show you exactly what she did.**_

_**Mai: By the way, AmyChan doesn't own Ghost Hunt.**_

_**AmyNChan: Thanks~! *^_^***_

Mai hummed to herself as she copped up some vegetables and eased them into a pot of boiling water. It had been a day off for her—she had put in a whole request form and everything!—and she had enjoyed it to the fullest via a day out with her friends on a shopping spree. Granted, while her friends looked at cute clothes and talked about the wide array of handsome boys at their school—yes, they were handsome but none were Mai's type so she quickly lost interest in the conversation—she looked at cheap snacks and eventually the grocery store.

Her friends did, however, talk her into buying at least one cute shirt.

The shirt was now in the wash so it was guaranteed to be clean when she wore it for work tomorrow. The brown-haired girl smiled as she turned to her battery-powered radio and turned up a song. Today had been a great day for her.

* * *

><p>Mai was about to turn in when she finally remembered that she should probably check her e-mails. It had been a good day without the computer, but what if Naru had sent her something to be aware of for tomorrow? It would be a bad thing to miss.<p>

Mai found herself breathing in relief when she spotted an e-mail from Naru, telling her to be prepared for a case and to pack enough to last seven days, just in case. It would have been terrible if she had shown up to work not knowing about the fact that she would have to go on a five hour drive for a case that would take a week.

Packing was easy work for her and she decided to return to her e-mails after she had finished. Work, work, Madoka, Masako—probably asking her to keep her mouth shut about that incident a few weeks ago—Bou-san, John, work, work, fanfiction, junk, fanfiction, spam, fanfiction, school, fanfiction, fanfiction…

Mai blinked in surprise. She had at least five messages in a row, not including the first three! She had only left the account alone for two days, three tops! She had let it be for longer than that before due to her job, but she had never gotten so many e-mails from the site. Had she done something wrong? Were there that many reviews on her stories?

That last thought cheered her up long enough to click the first e-mail.

_MTeaToGo,_

_A new review has been posted to your story._

_Story: A Love So Great  
>Chapter: 1. His Answer<em>

_From: iAMurMASTER  
>-<em>

_this is sooooo great! make him fall in love with HUUUUGE hearts in his eyes! and make sure they kiss! and go on a date! and have little babies! fluffy heart feelz! i lurv! ! ! :D_

_-  
>Do not reply to this email.<em>

Mai blinked. The message was…enthusiastic. It was not really her plan to have all these things happen and her other readers seemed to not mind the pace she was taking it. She supposed she would have to tell this person that their assumptions and/or demands were not the plan for the story.

She opened a response.

_Hello! Thanks 4 liking the story, but I'm gonna do it my own way. I hope you'll accept and like it._

_Thanks for reviewing!_

_MTeaToGo_

She sent the message and got back to her e-mails, figuring the problem was dealt with. She opened the next two e-mails to see that the user iAMurMASTER had favorited and placed the story under their subscription list. She hoped that was a good sign that the reader would like the story no matter what as she opened the beginning of the five-chain emails.

_You have received a message from:_

_iAMurMASTER  
>xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<em>

_Reply link: xxxxxxxxxxxxx  
>-<em>

_OOO! + lemons! lots of lemons!_

Mai blinked. Was this person serious? She opened the private message only to find that the remaining four messages were also from this person. Telling her to kick the pace up a notch, asking if she would give the story up for adoption, asking if they could make an alternate ending to the story since she was not fast enough, telling her to make long chapters so they would have some more to read soon.

She slammed her laptop shut and put it on her desk. She took bold steps to her bathroom, suddenly in desperate need of a warm relaxing bath.

* * *

><p>"Naru-bou, have you said anything to jou-chan today?" the monk asked of Naru, who was alongside the man while setting up base. The black-haired boy frowned.<p>

"Why is it that whenever Mai is upset everyone assumes I am the one to blame?" he asked as he placed a box down. Bou-san followed suit and they both turned around to gather more equipment from the van.

"Oh? Who else asked?"

"Lin."

"Really? Even Lin-san? I thought he kept an eye on you all the time!"

"That is hardly relevant."

"I thought it would mean if you made jou-chan upset he'd be the first to know." The monk shrugged as they passed by the object of their conversation. Mai was alongside the tall Chinese man, also bringing equipment in. The lighter equipment, of course.

"He has as much of an idea as I do as to why she's been in a foul mood," Naru admitted, his face as blank as ever. The monk cast a curious glance at him.

"You haven't been overworking her, have you?"

"Quite the opposite, though I see how it's none of your concern. She had a day off yesterday."

"Huh…"

The duo of men lifted another set of boxes—the last—and locked up the van.

"Whatever's bothering jou-chan, I hope it doesn't distract her. This place could be dangerous if you called me in right off the bat, Naru-chan."

Naru silently agreed.

* * *

><p>Mai walked with Bou-san setting up cameras after base had been assembled. She forced herself to take deep breaths, though a part of her mind was back with the impossible demands that rude person had made of her. She had woken up that morning to no less than fifteen new messages, each becoming pushier and more demanding than the last.<p>

She had ended up stomping out of the apartment after leaving a very colorful message for the user.

"Jou-chan, you seem a bit off… Did Naru-chan do something?" Bou-san asked. Mai shook her head and felt her dark aura ease a bit.

"Nah, not this time. In fact, he was nice enough to let me have the day off yesterday!" the girl replied. She remembered the day she had before the frustrating events had started and had to smile. Her friends were such oddballs, especially on days off.

"Then what's with the attitude?" the monk asked. The reason for Mai's demeanor returned to her in an instant and she frowned angrily, setting up a camera and adjusting it as necessary with stiff and rough actions.

"It's not really a big deal. I picked up a hobby in my spare time—and it's a lot of fun for me, too! It makes me happy and I can have a bit of fun with it, but…"

"But…?"

"Yesterday this person started pestering me, trying to tell me how to do my own thing. Like, micromanaging me to the tiniest thing! I tried being nice, but now they just want to walk all over me. I blew up at them this morning, so I hope the message got through."

"Okay, but if you gave them a piece of your mind, isn't the problem fixed?" Bou-san asked. "If they're not your teacher, friend, or boss, do you really have any reason to listen to what they have to say? Especially if they're not respecting the fact that you have your own way of doing things?"

Mai frowned as she set up another camera. "I'm a bit worried."

"About?"

"What if they don't leave me alone? What if they just come after me, telling me that I hurt their feelings and that I'm unfair or cruel? I've heard of users doing that to each other, I just never thought it would be me…"

"Mai, this is an online thing, right?"

"How did you—?"

Bou-san held up his hand with a knowing smile. "You said 'someone' and kept referring to that person as 'they', which means you either don't know what grammar is or you don't know their gender, so it's hidden from you. People don't have to tell you if they're a girl or a boy on the internet. And you said 'users', and that's an internet thing."

"Wow, for an old man you know a lot about the internet," Mai said. Her eyes were wide with awe, but the monk looked a bit offended.

"I'm not that old you know…" he muttered.

"Why does it matter if it's an online thing?" Mai asked. The monk sighed.

"Mai, haven't you ever heard of blocking someone?"

"Blocking? Like fencing?" Mai asked. In her mind were two fencers—Naru and Bou-san for some reason or another. The miniature Naru was attempting to hit the miniature Bou-san with his wooden sword. The miniature Bou-san was deflecting the blow every time.

"Not really." With that, the image was gone. "On some sites, the site gives you a tool to block people. It means they can't comment on your stuff or message you or do anything to contact you. 'Course, you can't message or contact them either so you have to make sure you really don't want to have anything to do with them."

"How does that help me?" Mai asked. By now, they were placing their third camera. Bou-san thought for a moment.

"Remember when you were telling us about what Naru said to Kasai-san in that case?"

"Kinda…" she said, though in truth she had a hard time drawing up the memory. She had definitely slept since then!

"You told me that he said something about ignoring fools who won't listen to you anyway," Bou-san reminded her.

"Yeah, but that's about PK. Kasai-san was giving herself a lot of stress trying to make everyone see that she really could bend a spoon. Not everyone believes in PK or knows it's true like we do," Mai said.

"And you're giving yourself a lot of stress trying to make this person see that their bossing you around is wrong and unfair to you. They may not realize that you're doing whatever it is you're doing for yourself and not for them," Bou-san said. "If they don't back off, block them. It's not worth making yourself so upset over."

"…all right. I'll try it if they don't back off…" Mai finally said. Bou-san smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Bou-san!" she cried out, trying to correct her hair. It was not easy to tame in the morning! The monk laughed before his face fell into a bout of seriousness.

"So…what you're doing online. It's not some kind of weird online dance club or anything, is it?"

"Bou-san!"

* * *

><p>Mai took a deep breath as she clicked the mouse. There. Blocked. iAMurMASTER would no longer have access to any of her works. She was sad to have done it, but after being gone from her computer for five days—the case had gotten solved a lot sooner than they had originally thought thanks to her efforts—and receiving far too many messages from this person she had decided that it was the best course of action.<p>

She was going to ignore those who thought they could bully and push her around. After all, she was not able to cleanse the soul of that poor little boy on the case by not doing things her own way, now was she?

_**AmyNChan: No, I don't mean go and use colorful language on them.**_

_**Mai: ehe… ^^;**_

_**AmyNChan: Your stories are your own, and if people start trying to take that away from you, you have the right to**_

_**politely turn down their advice**_

_**tell them that you're doing things your own way**_

_**block them if the aggressive behavior persists**_

_**remove guest reviews that are equally pushy**_

_**Mai: writing and other hobbies are supposed to be fun. Everything told is given as advice, where you always have the choice to take it or leave it. Even this advice. You can take it or leave it.**_

_**AmyNChan: And if you yourself find yourself having this tendency—of typing out orders or telling other people exactly how their stories should play out because that's how **__**you**__** want them to play out—then figure out a plan. Realize that the story you are reading **__**IS NOT YOURS**__**! It's THEIRS.**_

_**Mai: And by telling them what to do, you only make those authors angry. If you get blocked or your reviews get removed from the story, it's all on your head.**_

_**AmyNChan: Be fair, be kind, be respectful. You wouldn't want people telling you how to write your story, so don't do it to others.**_


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